background methicillin -resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) is associated with serious infections. having the ability of biofilm-formation decrease their susceptibility to antibiotics. objectives the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of biofilm formation among mrsa isolated from nasal carriers in the beheshti teaching hospital in kashan, iran. materials and methods a cross-se...

Responses to the house dust mite during infancy may be important determinants of asthma in susceptible individuals. This study assessed early IgG subclass antibody responses to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus in children of atopic parents. Sixteen atopic and 15 non-atopic children were selected from a birth cohort, and atopic status was established according to follow up over the first two years...

BACKGROUND A new pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus has emerged, causing illness globally, primarily in younger age groups. To assess the level of preexisting immunity in humans and to evaluate seasonal vaccine strategies, we measured the antibody response to the pandemic virus resulting from previous influenza infection or vaccination in different age groups. METHODS Using a microneutralizati...

LOCAL ANTIBODY FORMATION IN INFECTED RABBIT KIDNEYS WAS STUDIED WITH THREE TECHNIQUES: the ammonium sulfate precipitation technique, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and by binding of newly synthesized (14)C-labeled antibodies to heat-killed bacteria. Local antibody was detected by day 11 of infection with all three techniques, and a significant correlation was found in titers by all thre...

BACKGROUND This study assessed antibody levels for 5 years after primary vaccination or revaccination with 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PN23). METHODS Subjects were enrolled into 4 study groups by age (50-64 or > or = 65 years) and prior vaccination status (no prior vaccination or 1 vaccination 3-5 years previously). Blood was obtained on day 0 (before primary vaccination or...

We have established a novel assay method based on circular dichroism that can be used for the kinetic study of the activity of amino acid racemases, such as ALR (alanine racemase). Although an enzyme-coupled assay method has been used to measure racemase activity, the CD method is superior to the enzyme assay because it can accurately determine the immediate changes of an enantiomer on racemiza...

A recombinant protective antigen (rPA)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to measure the serological response of female A/J mice after inoculation with the new rPA-based anthrax vaccine. Several fundamental parameters of the ELISA were evaluated: specificity, precision, accuracy, linearity, and stability. Experimental results suggested that the quantitative anti-rPA I...